The earliest of my Bell ancestors that I have traced so far came from Ireland. His name was William and he and his wife Flora married and lived in Fermanagh County, Derryvullan Parish. William's occupation was farmer and weaver of flax. The Irish are renowned for their linen weaving abilities and I am proud to come from such a background. Weaving is the fibre of who we are and has been the basis for many an empire. The invention of the spindle for twisting fibres into yarn was great of importance for the progress of civilization. Handloom weaving was dominated by men in 19th century Ireland. This would change during the Industrial Revolution, enabling women to take the dominant role in the factory production of linen. My ancestor William would have been one of the last of the breed of handloom weavers. As the weavers sat at their looms they would often compose candid folk songs of love, unrequited love and everyday occurrences. These songs have changed over the centuries from simple ditties, to more melodic celtic tunes. Here is one from the area where my three times great-grandfather came from. I am the Wee Weaver I am the wee weaver, confined to my loom My love she's as fair as the red rose in June She is loved by all others, and that does grieve me My heart's in my bosom, of lovely Mary As Mary and Willie rode by yonder green bough Where Mary and Willie spent many a happy hour Where the thrush and the blackbirds do concert and chorus The praises of Mary round Loch Garrin shore As Mary and Willie rode by yonder Loch's side Says Willie to Mary will you be my bride? This couple they got married and they rode no more They'll have pleasures and treasures, round Loch Garrin's shore I am a wee weaver, confined to my loom My love she's as fair as the red rose in June She is loved by all others, and that does grieve me My heart's in the bosom, of lovely Mary *click on the title to listen to the tune Ah, it was a tedious old crop, flax, right enough, and it was a hungry greedy crop too, but the fields around the Cleggan were good flax fields, and there was money in it. I miss it, its beautiful blue colour. The fields were the colour of a summer sky, and when it was scutched it was so golden that it burned and glimmered as the sun and moon had mixed and fallen on it. (P. Devlin, The far side of the Lough (London, 1983), p. 63.) The weavers of the late 18th century such as my ancestor would have lived a modest life. There would have been a single room cabin or Weaver's cottage constructed of dry stone and possibly stuccoed. The windows would have been few and small as there was a tax on the amount of light that came into a home. When the linen industry collapsed after 1800 under pressure from the industrial revolution in Britain the economy of South Ulster was destroyed and its people impoverished. Perhaps this was one of the reasons they decided to emigrate to Canada. There were incentives offered to families who made this decision. Promise of land in a new country with hope for a better life. One wonders if the were told the land they would receive was such that it had to be claimed from the wilderness. Some Weaving Terminologytow: In the textile industry, a tow is a coarse, broken fibre, removed during processing flax, hemp, or jute.[1] Flax tows are often used as upholstery stuffing, and tows in general are frequently cut up to produce staple fibre. From Seed to Finished Product (The Cycle of Flax) The flax seed is planted in the spring and takes 100 days to mature for harvesting. During that time the plant blooms with small blue flowers that produce seed for the next year crop.Men were usually responsible for seeding while women took charge of weeding as the plants grew. Keeping weeds to a minimum not only encouraged vigorous growth, it also meant the stem was more likely to grow upright. Traditionally the flax plant was pulled from the ground carefully to retain the entire stem. These stems were bundled together into sheaves (or beets) before being carried in carts to fallow fields where women and girls would spread them into stacks ( or stooks) and leave them to dry in the sun. The plant had reached approximately one metre when it was ready for harvest, an operation that usually involving the entire family. The seeds dried and removed were saved either for next year's planting, or to make linseed oil or cattle feed. Retting This job was reserved for the men. Stems, still bundled in beets were placed into a pond or dammed area of waterway, and left to steep. This helped to separate the valuable fibres from the core of the stem but left an unmistakable unpleasant odour that hung over the countryside. After ten days the putrid decomposing flax plants were removed from the water. It was crucial not to under-ret or over-ret the flax which would cause it to either prove hard to remove from the stalk or deteriorate and break when scutched. Scutching & Hackling It took several weeks to dry off the rotting flax plants in fields before the next steps of the process began. Scutching was an unhealthily dusty job and was usually performed by men. It involved beating the stems with a wooden mallet or blade to separate and clean the flax fibres, resulting in a tangled bunch of fine fibres. Spinning It was always women who spun the fibre into yarn. This is where the term 'spinster' originated. Spinning was done on a low Irish wheel which was kept in motion by a foot treadle and resulted in bobbins of yarn which were then boiled in soapy water and dried. Even very young children played their part in the process by winding yarn onto pirns or bobbins. From the spindle, the yarn was transferred to a loom to be woven into a cloth which, in its natural state, was a brownish colour. Weaving Before industrialisation of the linen market, many households had two or more looms and weaving was done by men. When the mills and factories took over the industry in 1830s, it was women who began to take charge of the looms. Those who worked from home did so under the 'putting out' system. The main reason was that mill spun yarn was widely available and was easier to weave. This cottage industry dwindled and by 1850 there were fewer than 60 of them in Ireland. Hand loom weaving of the very finest Irish linen fabric continued in workshops in the Linen Homeslands of Ulster for another 50 years. By this time my ancestors would have long left their Irish homeland for the new country. Bleaching Traditional bleaching methods included boiling the cloth in a solution of water and ash, seaweed or fermented bran. The cloth was then rinsed and spread over an area of grass (bleach greens) to dry in the sun. Having aired, it was steeped in buttermilk, rinsed and spread out again. This process was repeated many times.All this rinsing in Ireland’s soft water was said to be the secret ingredient that made Irish Linen superior. Beetling The final step of neetling involved pounding the cloth with mechanised mallets to close up the weave. This transformed what was originally the flax plant into beautiful cloth. This action produced a dense sheen present in Irish linen. *Both my ancestors Hugh Bell and his father William Bell were Irish weavers and perhaps their parents before them.
1 Comment
Bob Soden
8/30/2016 06:49:51 am
Great work, Stephanie!
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Stephanie Bell-Boissonneault"When researching Family never leave a stone unturned, not even a pebble." Archives
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